Crafty Wonderland!

I was struttin' my stuff at Crafty Wonderland in Portland, OR and I didn't even know it! My dear friend Eli snapped this photo of the Tinymeat set up for me, because she rules. Know this. I am so thrilled to see my work sitting right next to Emily Martin's! Woo Hoo!
I do not participate in many craft fairs unfortunately. Between the day job and running Model Citizen I don't have a lot of time. On top of that there are just so many to keep track of! Thank heavens for sites like Indie Craft Shows Dot Com and Taryn Hipp's Indie Craft Fair Guide. If it is crafty and happening on this planet you will find all the info you need on one of these two site. Incredible amounts of information! Color me seriously overwhelmed.
In 2009 I hope to do more shows, be a bit more free, travel more... If you are in Austin and would like to travel out of town for another show but feel that you can't afford the travel expenses and booth fee's then you should hit me up, maybe we could go together, split the booth, gas cost, all that stuff! What better way to make friends?

Dreams do come true

All my wanting and needing paid off. I am now the proud owner of one super cute pink soprano ukulele! My mister got it for my birthday, because he's the greatest human on the planet! He of course is incredibly excited because this means that we can finally start our band. Well, after I learn to play it we can start our band. Which could take a while. I spent most of my evening trying to tune it... only to make it *you guessed it* more out of tune. I will not let this deter me though. I can figure this out.
There are some pretty big plans for this tiny pink thing. So many covers to come! Currently "Making Whoopy" is at the top of my list. Old Blue Eyes is a good place to start right?
As always, I will keep you posted on the progress made.

You look like a monkey and you smell like one too!

Today I am 27 years old. While I was doing a little reflecting on where I've been these past few decades I stumbled upon this picture of me that I estimate to be about 20 years old. I'm climbing the tree in my parents front yard and yes, I am supposed to be dressed as Jem. That's who I wanted to be when I grew up. That didn't really pan out, but it's for the best. She had a lot of drama in her life. I am happy to report that my life is drama free. Looking at this picture I am reminded of how quickly I wanted to grow up and how far away I wanted to get from Dallas and Texas in general. Which I made happen. Long pointless road trips designed to "find myself" & moving thousands of miles away from home at the drop of a hat. All of those escape plans to end right here in Austin, Texas - the exact center of the state. Where I've never been happier. I'm proud to report that I am not so different from the little girl in the tree. Roller skating will always and forever sound like the best idea. Cleaning my room will never be top priority. I'm still boy crazy, just a bit more focused these days. I'm no better at math than I was then. I still give people the benefit of the doubt even when they no longer deserve it... Maybe the big differences are that I had better shoes then and more sleep overs to look forward to. Oh and boobs. I really wanted boobs back then and I now I have them. Go me!

So, I'm about to head off to the office, but in celebration of my birthday all orders placed today will be shipped with a little surprise that you can't buy in the shop. A little handmade surprise from me to you for being part of a world that I am happy to be living in. And remember - shipping is FREE until Christmas day.
www.modelcitizenclothing.com

Here are some pieces of the past 10 years. From dreads to all dolled up, tampax was there. *I just had to throw that in - its my favorite marketing campaign of all time*


*thanks Mom and Dad for putting me together! I love you both so much!*

I've got a lot of dancing in my future

Is it just me or has this been an incredible social holiday season? Every morning I say to myself "self, we are going to stay home tonight & we're going to hunker down in our creative bunker!" but this is a promise I seem incapable of keeping. There is simply too much going on! Too many great invitations to turn down. This past weekend went by in a flash. My friend AD and I went to see the Sound & Style show at La Zona Rosa on Friday, which was unexpected and a lot of fun. The Sounds from Sweden (love them!) played & then they wrapped up the night with a fashion show. Team Fabrication, Goodie Two Shoes, & Boudoir Queen all had new pieces to romp around. I kinda dragged my feet about going, but in the end I was glad I didn't turn down a free night of dancing and inspiration. Then Saturday was pretty full. Awake @ 8am to package up holiday orders and hit the post office line. Then I was off to help out with the Lions photo shoot before their show. Spending my afternoon crawling around Trophy's roof w/ Danielle Thomas, Cory Ryan & 4 half naked boys. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to see the shots that Cory got! She is one of my favorite Austin photographers. A few hours after cleaning up from the shoot I was back at Trophy's for the Lions & Local H show. Those boys are loud, proud, and ready to party! I think I crawled back to the house around 4 am. I know what you are thinking 'fashion shows and rock n roll, where's the pictures?' I'm very unhappy to say that my camera is currently out of commission. Sad but true. Getting it fixed is at the TOP of my to do list. Cross my heart.
Sunday I did manage to hibernate. I worked on some new designs for spring. They will be printed up next month when my social butterfly stops flapping her tired wings. I also worked on an illustration assignment for a story about Portland OR that will appear in Shebang, a music based fanzine out of the UK. It's no where near finished but I did finish some other drawings featuring knit and crocheted hair.
Once upon a time I was obsessed with knitting. I'd spend hours cruising around Hill Country weavers fawning over their impressive Japanese yarn collection, then my evenings purling my brains out... until one day I realized that I just wasn't very good at it. It was a hard thing to come to terms with, but hey - can't be good at everything, right? So I gave away all my yarn, my needles, my pattern books and now I think I'll just draw the things that I couldn't knit into reality. It all works out, my taste in yarn is a little pricey.
Anywho, while my list of things to do takes on monster proportions so does the list of things I want to do. Paleo, one of my favorite singer songwriters is playing on my birthday (Dec. 18th) @ the Parish) while The Dedringers & The Jungle Rockers are playing the Continental Club. That should be a late night. Then Friday Rio Rita is have a xmas dance party with all the Sock Hop Dj's. AND then there is the matter of the Trophy's annual x-mas party. It's a formal affair that I can't say no to.
My feet and liver are already tired. Maybe I'd just be happier if I stayed home...
or not.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures of my holiday escapades. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Hello Saturn

In less than a week I will be turning 27. This will be the beginning of my Saturn Return. Which I had never thought about or even actually been aware of. I know that for many people (celebrities & us regular folk) this has proven to be a time of serious struggle. I have friends who are even fearful of it, worried of what it will bring, & maybe a little resistant to it. I'm not going to give into any of that though. I'm just not. This is going to be the time where all my hard work pays off and by the time my 30's hit I'm going to be living large. I'm not saying I'll be super wealthy or have my name written in lights, but I will be happier, healthier, more successful & better traveled. That's my forecast.
In the future when I feel like I need some sagely advice I'll be reading Goddesses Are People Too which is written by my friend Ash D. She is a wealth of inspiration & has a lot of great life experience under her belt. Not only that but, she tells it like it is. Truly one of the loudest and proudest I know. Go forth and love her as I do.
So what are your 2 cents on this thing they call the Saturn Return? Did you feel it? Did you get your boat rocked? I'm dying to know.
Well, I had better sign off. In efforts to keep the positivity/productivity train moving forward, today I am filling an order for a new store. Hovercraft! on Congress Ave will now be carrying Model Citizen. I also just changed the look of my website. Tell me what you think.

Lions & Tigers make for a messy household

My household/life is taken over with the two mightiest members of the jungle kingdom.
Model Citizen's designs are heavily dominated with Tigers & Tigresses then there's my manfriends band, LIONS. The evidence is everywhere. Stacks of posters, albums, T's, random promo materials, jewelry, etc. Everywhere you look there is a fierce cat staring you in the face. It's empowering but all these things are making a mess at the house these days. I'm in the middle of holiday season & LIONS are re-releasing their second album No Generation and gearing up for some dates with Local H & The Toadies.
I did manage to clean up a bit the other day and take some photos @ the house with my dear and talented friend Knoxy. I normally don't shoot in the house, but she convinced me that we should use my funky interior as the back drop for these new designs. I'm pretty pleased with how the pics turned out. Once all the craziness of this season is over & order returns to our lives I plan on shooting the house to show off our little corner of the world. I mean, why not? It's my favorite place on earth. We've lived in this house for almost 5 years now and it says a lot about who we are.... but like I said right now it just says that we are messy. It's impossible to do it all, i.e. be organized, work a plethora of odd jobs, follow your dreams, do yoga, eat well, relax, create, party, shower, show up on time, grow up, keep the kid inside alive, pay bills (once again, on time), keep the car clean, ship out orders, read books, etc... So, for now I guess I can just be okay with total lack of organization. Either that or I'll have to be put in the looney bin. Padded walls are cool right? I mean even Jane Lane was jealous of Daria's padded room. Speaking of Daria, why oh why have they not released the entire series to the public yet? You can purchase the Beavis & Butthead collectors edition or even complete seasons of The Hills (um, yuck) so why won't MTV give the people (ME) what they want? Which is Daria! I've become re-obsessed since Halloween if you can't tell. Anyway, I digress. I'll be posting more new items soon as I am about to undergo another jewelry making extravaganza!
In other news you can now find Model Citizen goods at BookPeople (the largest independent bookstore in the country), East End Craft Gallery, & Hovercraft on Congress (same owners as Creatures Boutique) . All of these stores are located in Austin, TX. If you know of a store in your home town that you think would like to carry Model Citizen please pass along the info. If it turns out that they carry the line I will send you a "Thank You!" surprise in the mail.
Okay - I'm going to put the coffee down, stop rambling and start marking things off my to do list....

All items pictured here can be found online @ www.modelcitizenclothing.com
I'm offering Free shipping in the US for the holy days!

Limited Edition?

For a many moons now I have been thinking of offering limited edition prints of the Tiger Ladies
featured on many of my T's. Lately I've been fed a some more inspiration to do so, see my "All Things That are Good" post.
They would have "built in" frames. So here's a mock up - what do you think?
Should I go for it? Print them on paper? Wood? Glass? Plexiglass?
So many options! I wanna hear from You!

All Things That Are Good

Like many people I am on a holiday vacay from work. Giving me plenty of time cruise the web, aimlessly... Yay! Best time ever!
If you know me at all, have ever read my blog before or seen my clothing line for that matter then you know I have a thing for female musicians, people with animal heads, & bikes. All things to be thankful for because they are um, great! I recently discovered one of the greatest music videos that, yes indeedy has all of these wonderful things! After watching it a few times and falling further in love with it I felt the need to share it with you. So here it is: What's a Girl to Do by Bat For Lashes

Enjoy!



and if you found the video exciting then I have a feeling that you will enjoy this print by Axeltorte. I'm bat sh*t crazy about it!

a

Living Large

I am making my world wide web return! For the past 5 days my internet connection has been effed! Not sure why really. I had technicians out. It would work while they were at the house and then moments after they drove away "poof" the connection would be gone again. Leaving me to believe that they themselves held the signal. Little internet fairies? Now things are moving along swimmingly.
Some good did come out of my lack of internets though. I got a lot of drawing done along with most of my xmas shopping & crafting - go me! Normally things come down to the last minute around here...
I had been neglecting my sketch book a little bit which is lame, but I returned to it with some new ideas. If you've ever seen my flickr account you know that I normally draw ladies. Ladies dancing, ladies making music or crafting, you know, stuff inspired by all the ladies in my life. But I started a new series! Diva Pets! Better than chia pets or real pets because they require no care at all, just a little adoration. Being an animal lover who hails from Dallas, TX (home of the BIG hair) I suppose this series was bound to come to me at some point. Big hair is my favorite fashion statement! Last New Years I went to my friend Ash D (aka Ashtacular!) @ Frenchy's Beauty Parlor before the party started and asked her to Doo me Up - literally. She curled, teased, sprayed, & sculpted my hair into a mountain that I was able to dance & sleep in for 3 days!!! Yes - I have a little 3 day party monster living inside me. Here is one of the only remaining photos from that NYE 2007. Me and Danielle of Big Green House @ The Sock Hop... at the time this was taken the glue from my fake eyelashes had seriously started to bother my eyes - eek!
So yes - in my humble opinion big hair is always the way to go! It takes time & patience, or maybe just a talented stylist, and it's always worth it.
Speaking of big hair, Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club fame asked me to send her a picture of my personal jewelry display for her blog. How could I say no? So, here it is - I keep my most frequently worn earrings on these bouffant rockin' ladies right here >
Check out Jennifer's blog for many other awesomely creative ways to store & display your jewelry stash!
AND if you want to be the girl with the tallest curls in your county you should check out Beauty & the Bouffant. You'll get a little inspiration from the greatest diva's & starlets of all time i.e. Aretha Franklin, Joan Collins, Mamie Van Doren, Jayne Mansfield & of course Brigitte Bardot.

*Let us all be hair hoppers*

Ok Class, If we could all turn to page...

This is my 40th post and I am so freakin excited to report that Model Citizen's Outlaw Yoga Pants have been featured in the Dec/Jan issue of BUST Magazine! My favorite magazine ever!! Oh Happy Day!
Now I'm off to do a little victory dance all over Ausitin, TX!

9 Years of Awesomeness

Today, November 13th, 2008 is a pretty amazing day. It is me & Austin's 9 year anniversary.
In the fall of 1999 I moved from Dallas, TX to Olympia, WA (on a whim) to live with Eli, an old pen pal. I had no plan, no money, just a need to escape Texas. Once I arrived in the lovely northwest Eli's bf was nice enough to help me find a job. So within a few weeks I was gainfully employed at Magical Journeys as a phone psychic. No, I'm not kidding. My first day on the job I met Austin, who had just arrived from in Olympia via Houston, TX. The moment I saw him I knew I was in trouble. We sat in neighboring cubicles, peering into our crystal balls* for weeks before I had the nerve to really talk to him. Of course, we hit it off famously. Eventually we hung up on the psychic hotline & headed back to Texas. After a short & crazy stint @ a communal warehouse in Dallas (that we shared with 15 other people) we moved south to Austin TX. It has been our home for almost 8 of these 9 years. Spending practically a decade with someone isn't always easy or fun, but the good times have always out weighed the bad. He is my best friend & the most supportive partner anyone could dream of. The fact that he is incredibly talented, wonderful to look at & extremely well read doesn't hurt either.
People ask us all the time, "when are you guys going to tie the knot?"
Well... I'm happy to say that Friday, November 13th, 2009 is the big day!
It's going to be big! I'll post details as things get confirmed.
On the right here is a mini zine I made for Austin a few years ago for
Valentines. It's filled with little inside jokes & obviously lots of music references. It was a fun project that now lives on the mantle in our dining room, right by the giant 'bird of prey' kite that he got me (I'm a kite freak).
So, why am I posting a blog about how much I love this guy on the night of our anniversary rather than spending it curled up in a fancy restaurant booth with him?
Well tonight he is playing Emo's with Electric Six (the price of loving a rock star) which I'm about to get all dolled up for. Speaking of, time is slipping away! I've got to dance this mess around if I want to dress to impress!

*there weren't actually crystal balls, we read tarot cards ;)

For Austin:

Making old art new again

I've been making tons of "One of a Kind" items for my shop lately. We have a lot of guys from Austin's band (Lions) staying at the house right now so I hide away upstairs crafting & listening to the Fruit Bats. I can't complain really. I come down to make dinner with everyone. We dance around the kitchen, drinking box wine & cooking big pots of spicy beans & rice. I guess I'm saying that being a "starving artist" is a lot of fun. Or more fun than people make it out to be anyway. So yeah, I've been crafting many one of a kind pieces. My favorite being the "Unicorns Are Real" earrings pictured above. I used the silhouette of the unicorn in a drawing I did a year or two ago called "You are my secret admirer?!"
It's a good feeling to make old art new again. You get to revisit your creative past. I love sitting down with a cup of tea (or glass of wine) to flip through my old sketch books. Some of it is just embarrassing but I think that's what I like most about it. Blushing & laughing at yourself is good medicine.

Okay, now I'm calling on you to revamp an old drawing or update that purse you made out of a pillow case 3 years ago (you know it's hanging in the back of your closet getting no love), & then blog about it or post it here.

Happy Revamping!

Celebration Sale

Hello Everybody!
In the spirit of change & the nonviolent revolution that went down in the USA November 4th Model Citizen is holding a Celebration Sale!

Details? Okay!
For the entire Month of November you can get 15% off of ANYTHING in the shop!

Once you've decided on what it is that you can't live without,
Go ahead & purchase the item & enter this coupon code *HELLYES*
in the "Note To Buyer" section.
Then I will send you a refund for the 15% through PayPal as soon as your payment goes through!

This sale is not available to just anyone! No No! You have to be my friend on Myspace, follow me on Twitter, or read my blog.

Just a little kick back for those of you who support Model Citizen ;)

xo!
Bonnie Rue
ModelCitizenClothing. com

Want. Need. Pt. 3

Recently I've been saving a lot more & spending a lot less. Not letting myself scratch that "shop therapy" itch. It's frustrating & (currently) I dislike it, but it makes me think about the things I really want, rather than just buying things on a whim. Me & my little household have talked about following in the foot steps of San Francisco's Compact. This means we would buy nothing new for 365 days. To learn more please visit their blog. BUT we haven't made the commitment yet so let's get started with Want. Need. Pt 3 - shall we?


Riedell's Vegan Derby Skates!
Let me start by saying that my life is seriously devoid of roller skating. I've been window shopping for skates for quite some time, I don't like the idea of renting skates. I just don't want to do it. They're funky & they're funky because of other people's feet. No thanks. I like these because they are not leather, smokin' hot, & designed by derby dolls specifically for speed. Did I already mention how freakin' cool they look? I don't want to join the derby or anything. I spend my entire life trying not to fall down in front of strangers. I just want yet another hobby ;D



A Blue (or pink?) Ukulele
Austin & I were talking about banjo's & ukulele's the other day & how the chords are the same. I am currently not interested in playing the banjo but the ukulele is another story entirely. After our talk I did some research about the cost, different models available... but before I got too far I found this video posted by the lovely, talented, & hilarious Liz Wood . I am sold! One Ukulele Please!




Number 3 on this Want/Need list needs no explanation, it's just freakin' RAD!
Here it is, A quilt dedicated to Blythe! What could ever be more fun to curl up in? Please tell me. This photo is from Heidikira's flickr photostream - which you should check out. She is traveling across Europe eating many dee-lish looking things & taking lots of pictures with her Blythe dolls.


November is here & in the blink of an eye Thanksgiving will be upon us. Me & mine have chosen to stay home this year & host an orphans holiday... but Im going to need some more serving trays and plates if we are going to do it right. I've got my eyes on these two pieces from Trixiedelicious. Im going to go ahead & file this directly under "NEED"




































And last (for now) but not least, I've been daydreaming about my next tattoo. Im not sure where I want it to go, but I know what I want! Tons of vegetables! A collage of vegetables just like the illustrations on old timey seed packets! It excites me so!

Daria Morgendorffer Makes Her Comeback

Due to messed up priorities & sheer busyness I haven't had the pleasure of celebrating Halloween in the past few years. Which is entirely no fun! Finally this year Halloween was in full effect. Originally me & a few of my lady friends were supposed to dress up as The Misfits (Jem & the Holograms rival band), but group costumes are always talked about with the greatest enthusiasm & rarely ever come to be. SO I went as one of my all time favorite sheroes - Daria Morgendorffer. Unfortunately most people thought I was a mix between Daphne & Velma from Scooby Doo or the nerdy girl chipmunk... My only response to this was "C'mon people, watch better cartoons!" Seriously. I hit the town after carving up a rad Tiger pumpkin with our newest housemate Todd. He hadn't given his costume a lot of thought so I put him in one of my dresses & Prest-o Change-o he was Toddanya, the Bearded & Tattooed Lady. We went to a party, drank champagne, & danced like boy crazy floozies until our feet hurt. Toddanya was a huge hit with the ladies & even the gents! Her dance card was filled all night & she kept telling me how freeing it was to wear a dress. Ha! Guys always enjoy wearing a dress, they are so freakin' jealous of us ladies & many different wardrobe options. There were a plethora of fabulous costumes at this little shindig! I was unable to photograph them all because my camera died. Dang it! I've had a film crew shooting a movie in my house for the past week (long & not so fun story) who ended up moving everything I own into one scary & unmanageable pile. My camera charger was at the very bottom of it, thanks. So, no pictures of Austin's "Eyes Wide Shut" get up or the girl who came as Miss Brazil from Beetle Juice (she was spot on!) but I did get a few before my camera went night night.
I didn't score any candy & stayed out way too late, but the night was a success none the less. Next year I think Im going to have the party at my house. Bake a big cake shaped like a brain, get a Freddy Kruger pinata, & let my friends camp out in the yard.

So what did you dress up as this year? Did you get into any ghoulish trouble? Perhaps some rowdy teenagers threw a jack-o-lantern through your window? Do tell!

Lending A Hand

Today I woke up and ran down to the ARCH (Austin Resorce Center for the Homeless) orientation. After my experience with the blind homeless man last Saturday (see my "ok, lesson learned" entry below) I decided that it is no longer enough for me to donate money & toiletries, I actually need to volunteer my time. I have tried to volunteer with other organizations like Food Not Bombs in the past, but the Austin chapter never returned my emails. So the ARCH it is.
Orientation was very interesting & I learned a lot. For instance, there are over 6,000 homeless people in the city of Austin. The ARCH is a mens facility at night but during the day both men & women come in to do their laundry, shower, get medical attention, check their email, get phone messages, & even make art. Yes - they have an art studio upstairs! The city provides all the supplies & they have one art show every year in which all the proceeds go to the artist themselves. I was told that many homeless people live off of that money all year long. I got a tour of the entire building & it's really inspiring to see all the things they do to help these people. The building itself is entirely self sustained, they filter their own rain water, generate all their electricity through solar paneling, & are about to start growing their own veggies & herbs on a patio near the roof. I give them a big high 5 for all their efforts. It's a daunting task, but they are doing their best & need more volunteers! They don't ask for a huge commitment, just whatever you can do. If you would like to volunteer your time please contact Front Steps & go through orientation like I did today. If you are busy busy busy then you could donate blankets (it's getting cooler) or things like jackets, tampons, soap, toilet paper, sunscreen, & disposable razors. If you are reading this & you do not live in Austin I urge you to get online & find & organization in your city to lend a hand to.

There was a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the paper work they gave me today, it read "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life: that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

That kinda made my day.

Ok, lesson learned

If you go too long without blogging there is just no real way to catch up on all the goings on that life has to offer. I've been a negligent blogger because I was crazy busy preparing for Maker Faire! I churned out a few new t-shirt designs, made more hoodies for the fall & winter seasons, got some tote bags printed up (!!!), & made TONS of jewelry! Almost 200 pieces of hand crafted accessories made by yours truly ;)
Not all of them are up in the shop, but they will be soon. Cross my heart and all that jazz. My Mom came into town for the faire (see above ^ ) - she was my helper, Thanks Mom! We butted heads a few times like moms & daughters do, but mostly we just had fun. Maker was really inspiring! What made my favorite list? Well, definitely Bazaar Bizarre - so many crafty people in a small space! Then there was the Austin Bike Zoo! Talk about a bike gang! They had bikes outfitted to look like rattle snakes, butterfly's, & boats! There were a lot of cool tandem bikes & SUPER tall bikes that looked a bit scary to me, but fun none the less! The art cars were effing rad too! I saw the Yarn Car, but didn't get to ask him how you wash it... next time I guess. There were so many things, and I didn't get to see enough of it due to working my booth. The sacrifices you have to make for craft. I did get to snap a few shots of the things that were in close proximity to my booth & did a little hula hooping next to the Mouse Trap (I think Austin got a little video of me - I'll see if I can post it)! SO Fun! The fair was really inspiring & the people watching was amazing! Below are some pics of shoppers & a few of my favorite booths in the Bazaar Bizarre. I had intended to do most of my x-mas shopping here. BUT on Saturday night after the faire Mom & I went to get some grub from Whole Foods & then a beer @ The Tiniest Bar in Texas to get our relax on... We got our food to go & ate in the parking lot outside the bar. While we were eating I heard a lot of honking towards the intersection. I look over & there is a blind homeless man trying to cross the street! People are honking & swerving around him! I jump out of the car & get him out of the street. Long story short he was lost & no one would tell him where he was! I got him a cab back to the ARCH & gave him some money for food. Once I was back to the car I was so distraught & heart broken that I failed to see the "do not park" sign in the parking lot... So I got towed, with ALL of my merchandise in the back of my car! As if this wasn't bad enough, it cost $200 to get my car out of tow!
So - my shopping plans were ruined. I did collect a lot of cards from the bazaar for future online shopping though... AND I was able to help a man who is truly at society's mercy. Getting the car out of tow was very Adventure in Baby Sitting, minus the Mighty Thor. We got super lost in the middle of nowhere, there were drunk dudes starting fights, an angry mob, you know - all the things you don't want to deal with after a 13 hour day. Despite this unfortunate incident it was a really fun & inspiring weekend! Thanks Maker Faire!

above: two happy customers wearing their pink cupcake earrings/ Bossa Nova Baby's booth / awesome MC shopper with rad mohawk!/ crocheted plastic bag purses by Belle and Burger's booth/ Naughty Secretary Club's Booth/ my awesome Baz Biz neighbors Nerd Bomber!

*oh and BIG hugs to my Mom for helping out & buying me a BIG green hula hoop (seen above) as an early birthday gift! Also, High 5's to Austin & Todd for helping us load in & out of the faire! You guys ROCK*

One foot in the past

I always get a little nostalgic around October. The year is wrapping up, there's a birthday in my near future... it's a good time to reflect & take stock. All that cheesy deep stuff. So I asked myself this morning:

"what was I doing a year ago today?"

Well - lucky me! I was at the Texas State Fair! The greatest place on earth! I love the rides, the lights, the tiniest horse in the world! Where else can you find fried coke-a-cola, bumper cars, & two headed snakes? We ate so many fried things & took so many polaroid pictures!
I took a lot of polaroids last year. As we all know - polaroid has stopped production of their instant film. You can still find it (Target & Walgreen's carry it) but once it's gone - it's gone. Better put that at the top of my birthday wish list! I guess we can thank all of our point & shoot digital camera's. There is a flickr.com group by the name of "Save Polaroid". You can only submit one picture. It must be a polaroid, you must be in the picture some where, & they ask that you include a little blurb on why you believe instant film should be kept alive. Wanna see my entry? Because I wanna see yours! Please post your pictures & send me a link.
xo!
Bonnie

*Heart = Broken*

That's right folks, I went from really excited to heartbroken in the matter of a few hours. I just learned that The Trucks have broken up. I never even got a chance to see them play! No fair! If this were a disney movie & I lived in the pacific northwest I would cry a little tear on their shoulders to bring them back to life. Damn this reality! There are rumors of a new EP to be released as a special "see ya!" surprise. So if you are a fan like me, keep your ear to the ground for it's arrival. And if you (unlike me) live in the pacific north west you MUST go see one of their farewell shows.

10/11/2008 Seattle WA Chop Suey
11/7/2008 Portland OR Wonder Ballroom
11/8/2008 Bellingham WA Nighlight

You MUST!

This is very sad news, but we'll have to respect their wishes & keep on dancing...


& I wouldn't fair of me to not include this hilarious little ditty that is constantly stuck in my head: Pervs in the Bushes

It's official. I am EXCITED!

Halloween is almost here! Hip Hip Hooray! I can hardly contain myself! Austin is actually going to be in town this year! Our first Halloween together in 2 years! I'm going to Monster Mash my brains out.
BRAINS!
As soon as Bazaar Bizarre has come and gone I am going to spend every waking moment on my costume. Me and two other ladies have a group thang going on. I'm not going to spill the beans, but I'll drop a few hints.

* It's VERY 80's
* There will be some incredibly BIG hair involved!
&
* Truly outrageous behavior!

... hope I didn't give it away!

YAY FOR HALLOWEEN!

Everything hits at once!

September is slipping out the door and now it is crunch time for Bazaar Bizarre!
Luckily for me Austin has returned from his tour (!!!) and now I have some helping hands, which are much needed!
He got into town @ midnight on Sunday, so last night was our real first night together. Austin made vegan tortilla soup*, we watched Heros, & I showed him how to make some jewelry. It was very relaxing. We both needed a night of puttering around. He's been living in a van on tour with the Toadies for a full month & I spent the weekend roaming around ACL, drinking vodka & vitamin water. More on this later...

Pretty exciting news!
Just as Austin & I finished dinner last night I got word that Tinymeat has finished one of the wallets I designed for them! It's now available in their shop - check it!


Also, remember the coloring book I told you about a while back? Well it's done!
It's called Peer: 25 Artists 25 Self Portraits
Who else participated? Here is a sneak preview of the each artists page along with their names & a link to their personal websites. Pre-order for the book begins now & shipping will start on October 1st.
When you get your copy & color it there is a Peer flickr group for you to post your fun to. There is a Peer 25 Vol. 2 in the works, so if you are thinking to yourself "I would love to be a part of a project like this!" all you have to do to throw your hat in the ring is email Rene of Wolfie & the Sneak with 3 images of your work.
nobiting [at] gmail.com



*if you would like our Vegan Tortilla Soup recipe I am happy to share - it is TASTY!

All That Glitters!

Over the weekend I attended a party/art opening @ Frenchy's Beauty Parlor. My friend Kym & I walked around, sipping our Lonestar's & talking about the art. My favorite of the evening was Sue Zola's glitter art. Portraits of popstars, pornstars, film & fashion icons lined the walls. All of them 100% glitter! My friend Ashley, who is a stylist @ Frenchy's, came up as I was admiring the portrait of Mick Jagger, his giant lips sparkling like ruby's & she says "Don't fall in love, he's taken! I bought it!" (!!!)
Then she took my jealous ass to meet the artist.
Sue is talented, friendly & hilarious! She truly is the Glitter Art Diva. She was kind enough to do a little Q n A with me, enjoy!

ME: After meeting you at Frenchy's the other night (such a fun party) I realized that I didn't notice one stray piece of glitter on you! Not in your hair or stuck to your dress, nada! It seems impossible to me! How do you keep all the glitter under control?

SZ: You may not have looked close enough, because believe me, glitter gets everywhere.....maybe it was just hiding in all the places that didn't show!


ME: I'm guessing that you never thought you'd be the THE Glitter Art Diva when you grew up. When you were a little girl what was your idea of a dream job?

SZ: Up until 1999, I was a musician. I came to Austin, the "Live Music Capitol of the World" from New Haven, Ct. to pursue music but ironically, I never actually got anything going.
Instead, I met my husband Dave, bought a cute little house in South Austin, and started doing glitter art as a hobby. Now my little "hobby" has become a career....hhmmm, go figure!

ME: You've been showing off your glittery goods in gallery's since 2001, has there ever been a masterpiece that you regret parting with?

SZ: Oh there have been quite a few pieces that regretfully I had to part ways with. Actually, right now I'm recreating a piece that I did about a year ago; Van Gogh's "Starry Night".
It looks pretty incredible in glitter, although it is definitely my own interpretation.


ME: What's the strangest thing you've ever committed to glitter?

SZ: There have been lots of strange custom pieces throughout the years, but the strangest piece was x-rated.....a certain manly body part that was an actual picture of the aforementioned body part....yikes!

ME: The other night you mentioned that you recently did a group art show in Vegas for Breast Defense with Iggy Pop & Kim Gordon! Did you get to rub elbows with either of them & if so did you mention to Iggy that in the past you have glitterized him & all his glory?

SZ: Oh I wish I had had the opportunity to rub elbows with Iggy Pop, the guy is a living legend, but alas, I have never met Iggy or Kim Gordon.
Who knows what the future holds though....

ME: I know you get a lot of requests for custom pieces, does one come to mind as most challenging or most flattering?

SZ: It is by far the most challenging to do a memorial piece, there's no room for error, plus it's a daunting responsibility to make it come to life and come out perfectly.

ME: You have done so many amazing portraits, have you ever done a self portrait? If so, can we see it?!

SZ: Nope, no self-portrait as of yet. There are too many better things out there to do in glitter than my mug!

ME: Last but not least, what can all of us glitter fiends expect to see in the future?

SZ: Well, rock stars never go out of style, but currently I am still obsessed with vintage cereal box glitter art, and I am on another cupcake kick!
Also, lately I have been in a girlie phase, so I absolutely love making flower glitter art!

You are probably looking around & noticing a serious lack of glitter in your life. If so, you will want to hit Sue up for one of her masterpieces.
Email her allthatglitters@austin.rr.com or contact her on myspace


AND if you want to look like one of Sue's masterpieces I suggest you try this Starry Eyed Eyeliner by Too Faced. They are fantastic & have the most fitting names imaginable! My favorites?
Obsessed Fan * Drunk Dial * Ooh Aah * Super Freak * Gold Digger

A Bitch in need...

well, you know the old saying.

Are you a magazine fiend like I am? You can tell me.
I subscribe to tons of magazines & I also visit Book People every month to buy more magazines. Maybe I have a problem but I am okay with that.
You wanna know what's not okay? Awesome independent publications disappearing from the shelves. I am sick of seeing this happen. I know I know - everyone is going green, many magazines exist only online now, but 100+ pages that I can stuff in my purse & read anywhere is something I don't want to say good bye to.
Right now Bitch Magazine needs a helping hand. Bitch has been around for about 12 years now. You probably know & love it as I do, but with the cost of paper & postage going up these lovely Portlander's find them selves in a tight spot. It costs about $40,000 to print & distribute one issue of Bitch! Whoa! That means they are spending $160k a year on printing & shipping alone! It turns out that they don't have the $40 grand they need to print the next issue. This is a call to action! We can not let Bitch go extinct! What can you do to save Bitch? Let me tell ya:

1. Make a donation (anything helps)
2. Become a subscriber
or
3. If you are already a subscriber you could purchase a gift subscription for your favorite feminist, she'll love you for it.



You can also put banners on your website or blog to inform other folks.
Thanks ladies! I mean, Bitches!

xo,
Bonnie Rue

Lions, White Tigers, & Craft! Oh My!

It's official, Monday September 15th totally exceeded my expectations. Got up super early to find that the temperature here in Austin, TX has finally dropped! It was in the 70's all day long, which is very rare here. By the time I got to work and checked my email I found out that Craftzine had posted a Q n A they did with me! We talk a lot about the craft community here in the great ATX & the upcoming Maker Faire. It was a lot of fun & super flattering to be featured on their amazing site. I tell you - the people at Craft are friendly and endlessly creative, love them!

After work and coffee with a friend I found that LIONS uploaded the first episode of their tour documentary! I get to see what my mister is up to :D
Those guys are on quite the adventure! Highs & lows, sold out shows, & questionable hygiene practices ensue...
here's a little *Becoming a Rockstar 101*

3, 2, blip...

Episode 1

NOT a fan

I decided to take a break from crafting & restocking Model Citizen stuff yesterday. I spent most of the day reading blogs, watching movies, & making soup. While cruising the web I thought I check out Sarah Palin a little bit. My mind was already made up about her. I AM NOT a fan, but I wanted to see what kind of response she is getting from the great US of A. After seeing that her & McCain have a slight edge over Obama in the polls my heart sunk. Then I found this amazing blog, Women Against Sarah Palin . My heart rate slowed, my breathing returned to normal, & I got that good ole optimistic feeling back in my heart.
The blog is a long list of women's repsponses to Sarah Palins candidacy. When I first visited this site yesterday there were over 120,000 (negative) responses & this morning there are over 130,000!!

whoa! way to go ladies!
This woman is not for us! She has the same "you are with us or against us" spirit that makes Bush so unacceptable.

I also found this video: Damon Condemns Palin


Vote Ladies! Vote! Make sure you are registered & vote!
Do the research, make an informed decision & VOTE!
*pretty please*

Hurricane Bonnie!

So Ike completely missed Austin, TX. We had some wind but not a drop of rain. Sigh.
My friends who live in Houston & down on the coast all survived with no damage to them or their property. That's a relief.

I haven't posted in a while because I myself have been a hurricane of productivity!
New designs in the works & placing orders to restock old ones. Shipping off web orders & making TONS of jewelry for Bazaar Bizarre next month... it's all coming together!
Dare I say I have it all figured out? Nah - I'd never go that far, the universe doesn't like to be figured out, so be it.

My house is a mess of creativity! Drawings, computer junk, jewelry supplies, & lists cover every available surface. It's nice really. With Austin gone there is no one to complain about the clutter ;)

As if I don't have enough going on... I took on another project last week. What is it they say? Idle hands are the devils playground? I believe it. A guy approached me about being the costumer for a movie he is producing in the spring! The script was good, the characters were interesting & the money was right. I've never done wardrobe work before, but so far so good! I've got all the main characters ready to roll, now all I have to do is shop for them, yay! I like the idea of shopping for imaginary people, I like it a lot. It's a really fun job that had never really crossed my mind. I've been thinking about movies/shows with great casts that I would have liked to dress. My So Called Life, Rickie & Rayanne alone would have been a blast! ...Why oh why did that show only have one season? Velvet Goldmine! Headwig! The Anniversary Party! The list is endless really. This movie doesn't really call for costumes so much, just wardrobe. There's some party scenes, and for the most part the characters are regular folks, but opportunity has made me day dream of future jobs like no ones business... I've got my fingers crossed that it will lead more.

Aah, so many dream jobs to dream about!
What's your dream job?

we can rest our bones side by side

Austin is on tour again. Missing him is hard, trying to stay close to someone far away is the hardest. I'm glad the band is touring, so it's bitter sweet. We have just always been so inseparable... sigh. In the past I have made mix cd's for us to listen to "together". Setting a time for both of us to pop it in so we can kind of experience the same thing at the same time while he is on the road. Sounds cheesy, but it's fun. So cheese it is. I started to make a mix for this tour, but I only got 12 songs in... I didn't have time to finish it.
So, for this tour our "together" project is writing a daily haiku based on the same topic. We are not sharing what we write until he gets home. I picked the topic today "Bargain Bin" & tomorrow's topic is all his. I'll post the finish product in a few weeks when he returns. As for the mix cd - this is where I left it:

Going Out West - Tom Waits
Sick of Goodbyes - Sparklehorse
Heartache - Violent Femmes
Hate It Here - Wilco
Boring Together - Paleo
Cry to Me - Solomon Burke
Ruler of My Heart - Irma Thomas
When U Love Somebody - Fruit Bats
I'm So Tired - Say Hi To Your Mom
I Love How You Love Me - Neutral Milk Hotel
For The Damaged - Blonde Redhead
Do You Wanna Be Buried With My People - Scout Niblett

I need more hours in the day!

Things have been so busy lately. Busy & yet not very productive. Model Citizen sometimes has to be pushed to the back burner because of all the other happenings in my life. That day job of mine is really getting in the way ;)
I suppose I haven't been completely lazy though. I've finished a new t-shirt design that I will unveil at Bazaar Bizarre & I turned in all my paper work and TIFF files for Tiny Meat! They are going to be putting some wallets together with my art work on them! See:



I have also been working on a self portrait for a collaborative coloring book put together by Rene Garner of Wolfie & The Sneak. 25 different self portraits by 25 different artists, each page ready for you to give it your own personal touch!
Excited doesn't really cover how I feel about this project. When I got her email and saw the list of other artist she asked to do it I was 110% flattered!
Shannon Rankin, Justin Richel, Kate Bingaman Burt, & Katey Nicosia just to name a few.
On the right is a teeny tiny preview of what I have finished so far. I need to finish it!

Now if only I could start getting things crossed off my Bazaar Bizarre to do list...
Mostly I just need to make more jewelry & put together a way to display said jewelry.
Once again - if you have any fabulous ideas that don't take up a lot of room - please do tell.

well, I've got a million things to do, better get to it!